Made to Break: Why Everything We Buy Today Is Trash
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- Опубликовано: 24 июл 2024
- From fast fashion to fast furniture to made to break appliances, everything we buy today, no matter where you are in the world, is trash. This video essay delves into the history of labor exploitation, imperialism, and how they’ve resulted in the horrible working conditions and products we have today.
Special thanks to these content creators for their amazing narration:
Aishyo / @aishyo
Foreign Man in a Foreign Land / @foreignmaninaforeignland
LadyKnightTheBrave / @ladyknightthebrave
Lola Sebastian / @lolasebastian
OliSUNvia / @olisunvia
TIMESTAMPS:
Intro 0:00
Content Note 0:33
Special Thanks to... 0:45
Part 1: A Short History of Labor Hierarchies and Global Manufacturing 0:59
Part 2: Fast Fashion Just Keeps Getting Worse 21:13
Part 3: Fast Furniture: Everything Is Ugly 32:05
Part 4: Fast Appliances: Made to Break 38:10
Part 5: The Loss of Valuable Life Skills 43:34
Part 6: Reverse Outsourcing: Fuyao Glass 46:26
Conclusion 50:15
Sources: We’re Buying Trash - Sources docs.google.com/document/d/17...
Music:
🎵 Evil Plan - Kevin MacLeod 🎧 No Copyright Music 🎶 RUclips Audio Library
My 2nd Channel:
/ @slightly_scripted
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Is it just me or are clothes and fabrics meant for women are worse than clothes and fabrics ment for men. I think I noticed this whem clothing for women started to get more and more flimsy and you needed to layer more and more clothes to just feel warm during cool monthes.
As a guy I can tell you that the clothes for men are just as sh*t, i have tshirts that fall appart after the 3rd wash, jeans that rip when you put a belt through them etc. This affects all clothes, not just womens. This isn't a feminist issue, Capitalism oppresses everyone.
I heard one news article a couple years ago, that women's clothes and jackets are made thinner because the companies want us to wear layers. I bought a men's winter jacket a few years ago and it is so much more insulated than other coats I've had.
It could be because fashion is aimed primarily at women and the only way they make women buy more clothes is by making it low quality. But not too low quality though so that the clothes can look fresh when you first wear it and erode as you wear it more.
I’ve started wearing men’s clothes for a couple of years now and none of them tore apart. I’ve noticed that most of their clothes are relatively cheap while also being up to par in terms of its longevity. I don’t think I’ll be going back to wearing women’s clothes any time soon.
Absolutely. Almost every women's shirt I see is semi-transparent and would require 2-3 layers to not have one's bra showing through. >.> Incredibly frustrating to clothing shop, now more than ever!
FLANNELS. Need I say more???
But I will. The ones for women aren’t meant to protect you outside or keep you warm. They’re thin delicate material meant to make you look delicate, and they’re cut tighter to flatter, not so you can move around. Hence why I wear men’s flannel from the thrift store lol
Working with elderly really puts into perspective how crap our products are. They have Maytags from 1962 that still run without issue. Lifetime warranties galore. Furniture is solid wood. Clothing is cotton, wool, linen, stiff denim, silk, and fur. And it was more accessible because the materials were natural even if they were put together cheaply.
Yes!!! My grandmother’s and great aunt’s wears and clothes and even trinket things are still standing strong today! Not just strong, in perfect condition.
A bunch of those companies went out of business as no one would rebuy if it keeps working. And this sucks and we need something to help those companies stay around instead of pushing for the stuff we have now.
I say this as someone who tried to fix things and mends clothing by hand (grandma taught me, and while i have forgotten a lot. RUclips is useful for this)
Watch out for survivorship bias. It's easy to say that examples of clothing and appliances that are still around 60 years later are inherently better-built than the stuff being made today, while at the same time ignoring all the examples of stuff that didn't manage to survive that long. I'm not saying planned obsolescence isn't real or that things aren't built down to a price these days; I'm saying that manufacturers were just as ready to cut costs wherever they could back then, too.
@@shmehfleh3115didn't they kinda point out your last point? /gen
Its not survivorship bias, most of the 'destroyed' examples were due to negligence and lack of care. Even if well used if one took care of them they will outlast you and your kids. Anyone who has actually worked on their old things will confirm that the old stuff is much easier to keep going. Just about all of your modern appliances are going to be in a landfill in the same time period, regardless of how well you take care of them.
Planned obsolescence - one of capitalism's "great innovations". 🙄
I actually don't even think it's so much planned obsolescence. it's just that things are produced way differently nowadays
there are gigafactories in china that will produce nearly all of the world's supply of a single item. different brands will all ultimately be manufactured a few miles from each other in the same city in china. they all end up using the same suppliers, same engineers, etc, to design all of these products.
the world economy is 'soviet-ified' in a way, it's so much more centrally planned than most people realize
@@Reid52it’s planned. it’s why technology has warranties and why every industry is unsustainable. making goods low cost and poor material means you’ll buy them over and over again if you’re on a budget
@@bonnielovely yes, repeated sales are the hallmark of good marketing strategy.
Planned obsolescence was an economic idea to get the US out of the Great Depression
Ikr, every communist government to exist has produced the highest quality products.
i noticed that the stuff i buy at second hand shops lasts longer and is better quality than what i got at any shopping mall fast fashion store
Yesss… especially furniture 🪑 👍🏾
@@WokeOne65 this is so true my parents and I got a couch back in 2018 and it got ripped and the color has faded away but my grandma's couch is perfectly fine and she has had it for 3o years
@@justaturky2890 wow‼️✌🏾😇
It depends on where you look, though. I'm seeing more and more fast fashion in thrift stores, and soon there won't be any classic pieces left.
Old elastic and glass was made better. I have fitted sheets from the 70s that fit my mattress nice and snug. Modern elastic goes bad in 3-5 years. If you store it once it turns to rocks and cracks apart.
I'm an architect who's worked on data centers for a certain massive corporation, and the trash does not stop at consumer goods. This corporation wants everything as cheap as possible, even if we tell them "hey doing things this way instead of the way we recommend will literally cause the building to leak and become unusable within a decade", their response is "doesn't matter, we'll have made our profits by then"; the short-term profit motive is just so plainly short-sighted, and I'm not sure if there's an ethical or sustainable way to build data centers, but everywhere you look there's a constant urge at the highest levels of big businesses to spend less and get more profits now, let the future worry about the future.
Excellent observation!! No wonder up to 85% of us buildings are water damaged. The resulting mycotoxins are poisoning society, hence a main cause of the rising dementia rates. I almost died from toxic mold exposure, before that I never knew what a problem it is. Building quality has to change!!
That need more strict government regulation I think? Idk why the government would think a poor building would be nice so they let a crap pass through, let buildings that has structural problems escape the inspection until it’s forced to push down.
Architect from Sydney here. That's true here too. However, the reverse is also true. A lot of colonial houses are built on sandstone foundations, and those things naturally turn to sand.
Don't get me started on why traditional English designs don't work in Sydney lol.
I think we should all go back to cob homes 🙂
The level of intelligence and business knowledge amongst the managing class is pitiful. My brother had a software company. He proposed a software package that would automate a section of their administration. The software, while expensive, would have paid for itself after 6 months. The best he got out of the morons on the board was "Yeah, but it’s expensive." Never mind they would be banking money within the first year and that the software would be paid off in half a year from its savings. No, it’s expensive.
Edit: They didn’t buy the software package. They chose instead to lose money, thereby reducing profits.
I also think having furniture from relatives is a form of generational wealth. I did buy and new furniture when I moved into my apartment. It was all stuff in my parents basement. A lazy boy from the 90s, a beautiful tea cart, end tables, etc. I didn't realize how lucky I had it until I started doing interior decorating. SOFAS ARE SO EXPENSIVE AND SUCH CRAP
I have always thought this, unfortunately I'm child number 10 so anything to be passed down was gone before I even had a chance.
I'd love to pass down my stuff.
The idea that the 90s furniture is the stuff we're harkening back to now is wild to me. Everybody in the 90s thought *that* furniture was awful compared to the stuff *their* grandparents had.
It definitely is, I was reading a diary of a real life courtesan from France in the 1800s and she talks about the importance and value of furniture and how one of the greatest gifts her and her mother were given when on the run from moms abusive second husband was a table and/or wardrobe to help them start fresh.
i think u meant to say "I didn't buy any new furniture*
right?
This is why the humble day bed deserves to rule the world. Any sort of frame, an ikea mattress and a bunch of pillows is almost always less than a sofa and is sooooo much better for naps it is not even funny.
I refurbish old wooden furniture as a side hustle and something I think worth mentioning is that most people just don’t have the setup required to refinish their own stuff. I am fortunate enough to have a garage and lots of outside space, as well as a husband who is fairly handy and had a lot of knowledge and tools for me to use. Just to sand a dresser to paint takes a ton of space for ventilation alone, and since most people my age (millennial and gen Z) live in these massed produced apartments (and if they’re lucky, with tiny balconies) they wouldn’t be able to do it even if they wanted to.
Yup. As someone who has sanded furniture and drilled in concrete in an apartment, I can’t recommend it. We now have a small garden allotment with a shed so we can do more diy now, but it’s really difficult to learn the skills and have the space and tools needed to do a lot of repairs.
Yeah, I rent and while I do have a garage, my garage lease comes with really strict rules about what I'm allowed to do with it, which is basically dry storage and parking and that's it. Even when you have space, if you rent, you're at the mercy of someone else's ideas about how you're allowed to use that space.
You are living my dream! I live in an apartment but luckily our balcony is quite large so I am able to do some small-scale projects, my favorite being turning wooden laundry basket to a storage bench for my dog's toys.
But everytime someone asks what would I do if money wasn't in the picture I always say fixing furniture.
Cant pay workers but you can pay lobbyists🙄
U can build a house with hand tools...
I remember hearing about a warehouse collapsing in Bangladesh that was owned by Primark about ten years ago which killed about 200 people. When I told my friends that this made me not feel comfortable buying clothes from Primark, it was made out that I was being over dramatic and has been a bit of an in joke about me ever since. Fast fashion is reliant on wilful ignorance. No matter how angry I feel towards governments and corporations for constructing the system this way, the indifference of most consumers allows it to continue. Consciousness of this vile system is really the bare minimum that should be expected of people rather than laughing it off as just a reality of the world that can never change.
Great video as always, so important to educate people about!
THIS.
I've called out fast fashion for years and gotten similar responses. Of course, it's not just fast fashion, plenty of the things we buy everyday are made or obtained horribly unethically. That's just capitalism. I think many people find it easier to turn a blind eye to something halfway around the world than to admit they've been wrong or to consider changing their habits.
I'm pretty sure clothing brands do not own these factories. They use subcontractors so that they can avoid responsibility and bargain lowest possible prices.
Easier said than done, but maybe don’t hang out with those shallow people anymore. Find people who want to make the world a better place and whose actions match. Take care
That's pretty infuriating to hear from friends. That event was actually a turning point for the fashion industry as a whole. It was a wake up call for everyone.
That's like boycotting Amazon because they use cheap warehouses in tornado alley....I bet you have an iPhone built by someone who committed suicide at work
I am in my mid 20 and I have seen quite a few friends picking up sewing, woodworking etc. personally I started knitting and love the process and wearing quality sweaters, I could have hardly afforded. So I think there is some hope
Yeah, I’m 17 and I wanna pick up sewing and knitting again (I used to do it when I was younger) because at this point, what’s the point of buying cheap quality stuff when I can make my own quality clothes myself.
@@kc87557 good luck! I started sewing in quarantine, inspired by a video about hand sewing a skirt from two rectangles (it was an easy start since I didn’t need much to start). My advice (if you want any) would be to pick a project that excites you, something you want to wear/use and try to make it. Probably won’t be the best quality first time around, but it gets better from there 😉.
Yes I am the same age and have thought about this too. My mom knows a lot of sewing and she learned most of it from her great grandmother but she rarely makes clothes. I often wonder why I didn't learn it, knowledge inherited from more than 5 generations ago.
I'm the same age. I don't see a lot of hope in DIY projects in my generation but thrifting and buying clothes from FB marketplace and Depop has become really popular and was once a poor person hobby.
❤
Another problem is that they're making it illegal to repair things. It has been stated by various people, namely farmers, that they don't have the ability to repair products even if the parts come from that company. These companies still insist on a worker coming to the farm to oversee things or to literally push a button.
Its not illegal to repair anything you clown, The warranty is void and/or the parts/schematics aren't made available for sale. You the buyer chose that product and you need to research before buying, just like I know you have not watched the crash test videos/tests of that car you drive because you actually don't care until it effects you personally
Yes, cars and farm equipment are a very good example of this. Difficult or illegal to repair.
Lots of farmers are using outdated equipment because at least they own and can repair it, usually right there. John Deere has made it impossible for farmers with all the mandatory software upgrades and subscription fees, not to mention that touching the thing voids the warranty so you have to take the tractor to the dealer
They're shooting themselves in the foot out pricing their own customers
All embedded software MUST be open source. Anything else is a threat to continuity of civilization. Imagine surviving a nuclear war only to starve to death because the electronics and serialized/activated repair parts are all unrepairable.
@@TwistedRootsMelody I met a cow farmer that said her old equipment was worth more than new because it lacked electronics and was easy to repair.
Its not just about stylish furniture...it's like I physically CANNOT MOVE these huge, heavy old wood pieces every year as I switch apartments from constant rental increases. I often HAVE to stick with the cheap stuff that breaks down.
I feel like this point gets overlooked. Most of us can't afford to buy a home anymore, and we're stuck moving every 1-3 years when rent becomes too expensive. It becomes difficult to hang onto actual quality furniture, if you ever had it in the first place :/
Yes. I invested in some nice furniture maybe ten years ago, because I had a nice apartment and no plans of moving anytime soon. Then COVID hit and I did end up moving for family reasons. Had to let go of everything, except clothes and some kitchen stuff, to move cross country into a tiny sublet. Which was all I could find in a hurry. Have moved twice since and currently live in a shared apartment. With no real hope of ever finding something permanent of my own, for as long as I want/need to stay in this area. I'm 44 by the way. Not where I thought I would be at that time in my life. I definitely don't plan to ever put time, money or effort into a place, that's not my own (I also renovated the old place top to bottom, including new high end laminate flooring and such). So probably never. Because buying even a 2 room apartment is far out of reach for me with my modest income and savings. I mean, I'm not poor or anything...but at current prices 'cutting back' and saving every cent wouldn't get me anywhere, anyways. I would just live poor and miserable for a decade and still not have a decent down payment.
Buy a house with friends and family then....during civic our local suburbs quadrupled in price. You could have made 4x your investment if you stopped chasing the dangling carrot
Fast housing and fast jobs means we move a lot and get stuck in the rent cycle. Btw, the new housing is built with the same crappy lumber as the fast furniture. Those apartments are meant to fall apart too.
Setup a plan to have enough for a house, maybe that means moving back home, do whatever you can to not get trapped into throwing money away with rentals
The section on Loss of Life skills reminded me of the fact that I had a home economics class in middle school, which I don't think exists as a class anymore. I did try to learn how to sew on my own growing up, and while there are multiple reasons it didn't stick not necessarily related to culture, it also just occurred to me that any and all places to buy fabric that I knew of growing up ended up closing down. One of which was replaced by a dollar store.
There was a home economics class elective at my middle school. I didn’t take it but many students chose to. :) I am in Gen Z , and my middle school was a public magnet school (NOT charter).
Sewing is a great skill, but yeah, fabrics themselves are so expensive now that it's not much of a savings to make your own clothes unless it's things that are really pricey (I make myself dresses sometimes).
Fabric has become expensive now too.
We still have some of the basics classes in school here in the UK, but even when I was in highschool in the early 2000s, I found the biggest issue with taking Textiles was we weren't really taught any useful skills. They just taught us how to make a shitty looking bag and that sort of thing, whereas I guess I'd have loved to have learned more applicable skills like how to hem clothing, take in waists in trousers, do hidden stitches etc. Plus, EVERYTHING we did was on machines, I really wish they'd at least had some focus on hand stitching.
That's interesting. I remember we did hand sewing/made a stuffed animal based on a few different patterns. I made an alien, which I still have to this day. I actually kind of wish we did something with a machine.@@Spamhard
Vintage and antique options for clothing and furniture exploded in price in the early 2010s and hasn't slowed down. It's not really affordable either for the most part.
Learning abt planned obsolescence in school made me never EVER want to buy something not from a thrift store. Now they're getting filled with TEMU SHEIN etc 🥰
This is a huge problem. I'm glad that people are donating and reselling their stuff, but seeing more and more stuff like Shein items fill up everywhere, it's making buying 2nd hand a real pain in the ass. Sucks to know all that stuff will be in landfill soon, because even when thrifted they're not going to last the next owner more than a year.
@@Spamhardit also sucks bc the clothes are more expensive at goodwill then they were “new” off of shein. there is no incentive to buy those brands in store when they’re cheaper online and you can pick the size
@@bonnielovely exactly yeah. i've noticed when walmart adjacent brands are in thrift stores sometimes and i'm like "i'msure it was probably cheaper than this when bought new". I've also noticed the normal capitalism issue; since thrifting has become more popular, a lot of thrift stores have started bumping prices, especially for designer brands. My american friends was saying how in some states where thrifting is popular, it's almost cheaper to buy new because the thrift stuff has the 'vintage' label on it.
I've had a lot of luck with direct person to person kinda salkes, like ebay and vinted (i think is uk only app tho) where it's just someone trying to clear out their room and isn't so obsessed with getting big bucks.
Walmart and Target stuff they aren't allowed to sell for huge discounts. They give to Goodwill as a last resort.
@@bonnielovelyit’s gotten even worse than that. I was at a goodwill and a Ross recently and literally found a dress for 7.99 at Ross that the Goodwill is charging $14.99 for. It’s so deeply upsetting. I literally can’t keep thrifting at this rate, it’s a better value to get new fast fashion clothes rather than old ones for christ sake.
Isn't late stage Capitalism great?
BUT IS THE BEST SYSTEM OF THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE!🤡
I would call it unchecked capitalism, we need a balance of both socialism and capitalism, but people fell for the “socialism=communism” narrative spread and pix by the people paying the politicians.
@@mouseofscorpiono. Capitalism is a system that values only profit and makes commodities out of everything (even people). With a system like that there is no "balance". Capitalism will try to consume all else. We need a system without capitalism, a system which values people instead of exploiting them
@@seamusf.d5321 yeah you are actually right, capitalism of any form is not sustainable, it is eventually gonna destroy itself but hopefully most of society survives its consequences…
Capitalism alone is arguably natural. So is lying and murder. Late stage capitalism is billionaires who are evil eating themselves forever because central banking debt is functionally designed to be inescapable and the rich fear justice based eugenics.
It's also, with furnature, a matter of how many times people expect to move: it's easier to move pine, plastic, laminate, and minimalist furniture than it is to move proper, heavy, built-to-last things
So true. Here in NYC it’s just dumb to get heavy furniture knowing u basically have to move every year because rents just keep increasing. If ur gonna have to carry it 5 flights of stairs u don’t want some heavy hardwood dresser
Every ikea/target shelf I’ve tried to move has fallen apart and needed to be replaced.
Yeah that's the problem. In the 1800s people usually lived in extended families with 3 generations or more. So you would probably only move once in your lifetime when you got married and maybe not even then.
When something goes terribly wrong with my android phone, I have to go to an unofficial service shop for it to be fixed because the brands where I got my android phone would just say "It's already past the warranty period," or put a hefty amount of price (about 180 USD) for a repair. But the repair shops that I go to perfectly fixed my phone for (27 USD). I have more respect for them.
Planned obsolescence… that’s every corporation / manufacturer game plan 👿👿
RUclips app: this Video has been posted 3 minutes ago but this comment has been here for 4 minutes. I'm confused 😂
@@salomerodriguez5145 very good point.. I’ve never thought to look into such fine details, but now I will‼️Your thoughts 💭??
Yep. Planned obsolescence keeps the American economy humming by ensuring that consumers are routinely having to buy replacements for the crappily made items they previously purchased.
@@vickyabramowitz2885 👍🏾you said it best. I believe it was Thomas Edison who was “advised” to NOT make a light 💡 bulb that last forever‼️
@@salomerodriguez5145some propaganda going on. Little girls with big opinions = backing
I was actually complaining about this to my mum recently, because I have a dressing gown from a shop that I got over 20 years ago and it's still perfect. I've brought various items from the shop and I'm lucky if they last a year. Everything feels like it's made from the worst materials and made in the cheapest way possible. I've often tried to buy more pricey products in a vain attempt to hopefully get more use out of them and it's the same old story, they fall apart within a couple of uses. Now I mostly shop at charity shops and any new items go to a local seamstress so she can fix hems and secure them a bit better. But it does just strike me as slightly insane that regardless of price it's almost impossible to get anything that lasts. I've even started to contemplate making my own clothes, just so I can buy good materials and spend some time and effort making things to last.
I worked in retail in the early nineties and was told then that wms. clothes were made cheaper than men's because women shopped more. Now it's all cheap.
i am a teacher and i desperately need some new clothes right now. but everything i can afford feels like plastic that goes on furniture. i cry in stores all the time because nothing looks or feels like an actual garment. it feels like it’s going for a trend rather than the purpose of clothing me
I remember going to Forever21 for the first time few years ago (it wasn't a popular brand in my country). I was taken aback as the quality was worse than all other fast fashion stores I knew, but the prices were higher in F21. Now it feels like the majority of clothes in stores are like those in F21 - almost see-through polyester that's going to fall apart after one wear.
honestly f21 was weird, most of the clothes were very poorly made but they had some durable stuff as well. I have 3 "vintage" band tshirts from there that are still going strong after over 10 years of very frequent wear.
On garbage:
Out of sight, out of mind, but you 100% left something behind.
Your trash doesn’t just dematerialize when you throw it away
I know and it makes me very anxious knowing this, looking at the many beautiful things which are thrown away to rot and kill nature.
I'm a garbage picker and there was a house that had a lot of garbage at the curb. A lady was bringing out more as I was at the curb. She said, "a lot of garbage huh? Well that's not all of it, I still have more to bring out and you can take everything in including emptying my garbage cans". A lot of the stuff she was throwing away worked perfectly fine, it just wasn't the newest so she wanted it gone
Picking up crochet and knitting last year has really opened up my eyes to the true value of labor and how much time and effort goes into our clothes, even if they're "just" fast fashion. if I see some clothing company selling "crochet" (usually knit that mimics crochet) clothes or blankets for like $20 or $30, I just stare at it in horror if it's actually crocheted because what most don't understand is that crochet can *only* be hand made and should be *much* more expensive. I tried to teach myself to sew a couple months ago but I gave up because it is so much more difficult than knitting and crochet; I might try again in a few months because it's a really valuable skill and I do want to transition into making any new clothing items I want myself. As of now, I only really buy clothes from second-hand/thrift stores and online places like depop and vinted (which have their own problems but I think it's a step in the right direction away from fast fashion). I've limited the clothing I buy from big retailers (say walmart or target) to basics like tank tops that I can sleep in or wear around the house.
This! It's not quite the same but I started doing some cross stitch last year as a hobby to make some jacket patches, which has also given me the confidence to do basic hand stitch repairs (scruffily, but I like that kinda look). And by god I hadn't entirely realised how damn long it takes. Even just hand edging/hemming a finished patch to stop fraying literally takes me hours. (Sure I could get a machine but I enjoy doing something with my hands while watching youtube). I've known the value of effort and labour for a long time, but I wont deny picking up such a hobby really does reiterate that point.
@@Spamhard cross stitch seems like sm fun!! even if i don’t ever end up being proficient enough with a sewing machine, i will at least try to teach myself to hand sew so i can do those types of repairs on my clothes.
also i’m the same; ik i could probably just get a knitting machine to make stuff quicker but i like to watch youtube videos while i hand knit. idk it’s just rewarding making something with your hands and it’s better for me as an autistic person to hand-make stuff because it’s the main way i stim :))
@@wooogie672 haha, same hat, i just got diagnosed in adulthood with adhd, which explains why i've always needed something like this to keep my hands entertained even when sitting idle lol.
cross stitch is great fun. it used to put me off because it was very 'granny' patterns, but thanks to places like etsy, i've found some really awesome goth, witchy and punk patterns that make for fun jackets patches :3
RUclips is a wonderful source for tutorials and you do not need a fancy 300+ dollar machine.
I bought my machine for 50 dollars during black Friday when I was in highschool and it still runs strong! (so more than a decade)
there are patterns for beginners!
take your time and start off with simple tasks and work your way up, watch tutorials, and buy a book with the basics so you can search up different terms for what your pattern is telling you.
I am about to make a dress for a wedding later this month and all the materials costed 15 dollars with the pattern costing 10 and this dress will be custom fit and hand made and will last me a long time.
@@fireemberess i’ve had my sewing machine since like 2011 lol it works pretty good. my main problem is cutting fabric correctly and keeping everything straight and clean 🥲
I've just swapped my 12 year old sewing machine for a vintage 1957 Singer, and it's sooooo much better! It works more smoothly, is easily repairable, and the accessories are incredibly well engineered. I've been doing so much more sewing, because it's just so much more enjoyable and I don't feel like I'm fighting my machine all the time
I rewatched the documentary Broken it's about dressers tipping over and killing babies/toddlers and how the old antique dressers didn't really have that problem because they were sturdy. The IKEA dressers need to be mounted to the wall to stop them from tipping over
but even some homes are built so poorly the wall would crumble
My dad lost a grand cousin to a bookshelf in the 1940s. Wall mounting is important.
I'm 42 now, and I can vouch for this trend. I had a TV that lasted my entire childhood and into college, my NES and SNES and Genesis worked for over a decade at least, some longer, and now I've had three tv's break in the last five years and every modern console I've bought has broken down, from the Nintendo Wii up to the Xbox One. Things just are not built to last even as much as they were in my day, and people were already talking about Planned Obsolescence then.
I live in a house made directly post ww2. I have much less issues in my home than my buddy who lives in a house constructed in 2017.
@@SmartCreeper Sounds like you picked an ironic name.
To be fair, I got my Wii in like 2008 or 2009 and it's still ticking just fine.
How do people break their consoles? You theow it around?
@@sttonep242 The Wii no longer reads discs, the power supply burned out on my Xbox One and 360, and before that I've had many others.
My N64 would turn itself off after a few minutes, my PS1 stopped reading games due to the laser wearing out, my Genesis just stopped powering on one day, and I had three NES consoles that each stopped being able to read games.
The SNES was the only one that survived into my college years and still worked, but I at least got a decade or more of use out of the others, up to the PS1 and 2 era. My Wii and Xbox One were less than two years old.
I am aware of how terrible fast fashion/furniture/etc. is for our environment and I always try to reduce my waste, buy from local businesses, thrift, and in general just try not buy so much but it feels so hopless when you do everything you can about the problem yet everything you buy is made to be thrown out and it cancels out all the good you try to do.
I understand this feeling :( I haven't bought a single item of clothing in about 2 years while a friend of a friend buys clothes she doesn't wear more than once almost weekly. It made me feel as if I was accomplishing nothing at all
I definitely agree with bringing back apprenticeships! I have been seeing people blame the death of sewing as a skill on gatekeepers... that the older people who know all these techniques to make their own clothes just like, dont want to teach and get huffy if people don't already know every technique. I personally don't have any experience with that since my learning is done through online videos and all!! Hopefully there are more skills such as making furniture shared online
There are classes and RUclips videos. I plan on taking classes. I’m tired of seeing my clothes just fall apart in less than a month. 😂
@@viridianacortes9642 Yes it's easier than ever to acquire these skills, and almost anyone can learn. I'm happy my dad taught me a thing or two about DIY, but I learned a little sewing as well from YT videos, and the skill has served me well. Not enough to make clothing, but simple alterations or hemming curtains I can do. Which means I was able to make the curtains from my old place fit in the new, for instance.
There are certainly older people like that of course, but I think saying that all older people are like that is a huge overgeneralization. My mom knows how to sew and never had that kind of attitude about anything. She learned it from her great grandmother who died before I was born, but from what she told me it doesn't sound like my great great grandmother was that kind of person either.
Where I live the old people are mostly extremely lonely and some would spend hours every day helping you with something if you had that much time. Although sometimes they are not always "friendly" and "nice" even as they do it.
It's interesting because my grandfather told me that before it becomes valuable, it is trash.
I am watching this on a couch that I inherited from my grandparents that are older than I am and are in much better shape than the new furniture that my friends have.
My desire to make something custom and unique is what made me want to pick up sewing and embroidery. And I really appreciate how its helped me extend the life and improve the quality of my clothes and plushies
This is an age where most companies have same owners which belong to same political standing, groups and follow same policies. This accounts to similar production decisions and approach to consumers.
I find this video very interesting and I think that you raise a lot of good points. I do think that there is also a class issue when it comes to consuming fast fashion or fast furniture. you said in high school we have classes to teach us to cook or so or work with wood but most high schools phase out these programs as test scores begin to fall pushing for more reading and science classes. A lot of the issue is that the skills have not been passed on and instead children are taught impractical knowledge for life and this leads to many of these skills not being picked up until choosing to learn them and vocational school or even prison. The issue is not the individual making a choice but rather society moving towards a worker who consumes then an artisan who creates for the world around them.
I have a 4 years old dishwasher that is broken. My boyfriend is quite handy and he said the one (1) bearing is broken. A bearing is worth 2-3$. But the bearing is inside the motor and pump “unit” and you are not meant to disassemble that. Luckily, my dishwasher has a 10 years guarantee…. So we can have someone see our dishwaser and replace the unit for the premium price of 279$ (canadian). That is litterally what the “guarantee” does. A 10 years “premium” price. Or we can buy the pump and motor unit piece ourselves for 360$. A piece that will probably break as well because of that bearing. Or we could buy a new dishwasher for barely more.
My boyfriend has disassembled the motor/pump unit to change the bearing. We haven’t tried it yet, wish me luck.
Good luck.
all of your videos (especially as of late) have been so brilliant and varied. im here for you branching out into all kinds of subjects, you do each one so well!
Another great video, Cheyenne. I've been getting so fed up with the capitalist system lately, it's not only destroying the planet but also most people's quality of life. And while trying to live more sustainably is a noble goal, the problem with that is that it can take a lot of time and money that many people simply do not have. You're absolutely right that governments need to step in to regulate these big companies that are exploiting their workers.
(Sorry for the mini rant, this is just something that's been on my mind a lot lately so your video came at the perfect time.)
Another great video! When I think about all the fast fashion/furniture/decor etc. - all the trash really- I have bought... I don't know, it makes me feel so uneasy, I can feel it physically throughout my body. I am really trying to change how and what I consume.
Same, I think some of it's down to climate guilt, or at laest it is for me. I get this real sense of like... heavy guilt and shame from it that weighs phsyically as well as mentally. And it's worse now when I have to purchase something I can't access via other means like thrifting. If i need a very specific item and have to buy it new, I just feel this put of my stomach sadness for ages about it, and even if i get joy from it, there's still this guilt kicking me in the back of my mind.
You absolutely nailed it! My dad has been in the upholstery business for 40 years. He says most furniture these days are crap. It's not even worth recovering in new fabric. The cost to recover is more than the actual piece is worth.
Most of what's in my apartment is hand me downs or antiques or hand made. I've been making my own shampoo for over 10 years to cut back on plastic bottles (and my hair has never looked or felt better) and buying products in glass whenever possible.
How do you make your own shampoo?
@viridianacortes9642 I steep whole leaf jasmine green tea, calendula flowers, and sometimes rose petals in a French press for a few hours until it's cool. Strain it into an old juice bottle, add 1 cup castile soap (I like rose or almond), and that's it. You can also add essential oils for scent, I like sage and patchouli, but it's an easy formula to tinker with. It also keeps very well in the fridge, up to a month or longer. It also cleans hair so well that I only need to wash mine about once a week before I feel it getting oily.
And after every third or fourth shampoo, I'll use a homemade rinse. 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar mixed with 2 cups of warm water, and 1/4 teaspoon of honey (and optional essential oils of choice).
@@CinnamonGrrlErin1 thanks!
Gotta love getting served a Temu ad directly after the end of the video.
An old jacket that i got for $100 (back when $100 meant something) back in the 90s (I wore baggy clothes back then. It fits me now. Lol.) is still in good condition compared to a jack i bought a few years ago which practically fell apart.
Also, old toys i had as a kid, my daughter still plays with them in still in good condition. A few toys i bought her broke.
I have a T-shirt that I won from a radio show in 2004, I've worn it regularly ever since, but it's fabric is still so much thicker and stronger than any of the newer shirts I've had and tossed because of holes or ripping or colour change. Also if I pick up some of the old children's clothes mom saved from the 90's, it was just stronger, thicker and warmer than anything of the new synthetic fabrics you can find everywhere these days. It's sad most clothes fabricated now are not meant to last. And that there is a culture that tells you you need something new each season! That you can't wear the same thing twice in a week! We need to change that.
I realized how little clothing I actually want/need last time I replaced my wardrobe. I need several pairs of good quality & decent shoes, but even those are getting harder to come by! Also, my furniture is all second hand & always will be. We just don’t need so much shit.😊
I think stuff made in the past was likely to be of a slightly higher quality (partially because in the USA's case, products were being made in the same market they were being sold in) - but we also can't write off survivorship bias. Maybe there's an appliance from the 60s or 70s that runs great...but I'm sure there were many that didn't; the machines that made it to the present day may be painting a rosier picture than actually existed
Well cars are a good example. 100,000 miles on a car in the 70s was way more wear than it is today - even more so if in a cold climate. That car was done. The lifespan of cars has improved over the years. However, those cars were also easier and cheaper to repair. Especially with minor repairs - which were less likely to be repaired if not necessary. Cars last longer now, but the cost of repair can be very high - it doesn't help that people insure cars for non-catastrophic repairs which just drives up insurance and repair costs.
Just from the title alone, I’m here for it.
We’re finally looking to buy a house, and keep being drawn to the older fixers because the new “remodeled” places are full of cheap garbage that’s going to break down in a few years.
House remodeling makes me so furious. People snatching up houses, painting over cracks, and upselling them is literally an existential threat to so many people. Within 10 years I’d say over half the “remodeled” houses in any given city will be condemned, despite their pretty new vinyl floors
My husband and I got a hand-me-down toaster when we got married it was silver, and probably from the 80s. It worked perfectly until.... I dropped it. I broke the front plate so of course I went and bought a new one at Walmart. My new $25 toaster tosted maybe 30 slices of bread and had a whole life of 2 months. So of course I bought a new, more expensive one, maybe $50 and it lasted about the same amount of time. My lesson from this experience is that I will live the rest of my life without a toaster. Wasting money is not something I enjoy doing. And I now toast things in my good Ole George Foreman Grill.
One important weapon we have is simply minimizing consumption. For example, after two vacuums of mine stopped functioning, I've decided to simply sweep my small apartment. It's actually just about as easy as vacuuming, and much easier considering all the time and money saved on repairs or new purchases.
I bought a macbook 2015 model in 2017 for $1500. I took really good care of it yet in 2022, 5 years of using it, the screen light stopped working. Turns out it was a design fault but I was no longer eligible for any free repairs. I had to pay 400 to get it fixed, while the new Macbook of that model was available for 4-500. I just bought a dell for 650. But so disappointed that such an expensive laptop only lasted 5 years. I was hoping to get 10 years out of it at least.
Almost the same thing happened to me! I bought a 1200 MacBook in 2017 that was a 2015 model (made in 2015). It lasted me two years and all of a sudden it stopped turning on. I decided not to fix it due to various factors but the main one is that there’s no Apple Store in my area. I got a windows laptop instead that’s still going strong. I was also upset that such an expensive laptop had inexplicable problems just after two years.
This is capitalism doing its thing, we must end it before it ends us
I just got a sewing machine over the weekend. My clothes fit horribly but, I wasn't feeling comfortable buying clothes that wouldn't fit and would probably fall apart soon
Planned obsolescence and trend cycles leave us perpetually dissatisfied. Always looking for the next new thing as we become disappointed with the things we’ve purchased previously as it falls apart. Our satisfaction, if any, is short lived.
My grandparents used to make everything themselves. They didn't buy a single thing except maybe some materials. My grandma made a huge cushion (it covered a big area but was thin like a rug) to sleep on the floor. One day a merchant came to her house to sell her something and instead gave her a cheap plastic rug in exchange for the handmade cushion. The new rug looked more fancy than the old one but was very uncomfy and of course wouldn't last long. That's what I resonated the most with what you said in your video. People should be more knowledgeable with the quality of things and once you know which one is better you're better in investing, keeping the environment clean and most of all live the most comfortable you can afford
I agree that most of what is out there is trash. However, it takes very little time to actually figure out what a quality piece of anything and then be able to look for it in pretty much every product we buy. I am 48, and I my life I have had rarely had to buy anything to replace a major purchase because I took the equivalent of about 4 hours on any major purchase to learn how to look for quality on the specific item i am considering buying, even when looking for second hand items.
One very important thing I have learned that applies more or less across the board, the more bells and whistles it has the more likely it is to break down or be subject to planned obsolescence. When it comes to clothing and fast fashion, learn what a good seam and stitch looks like and keep that in mind when looking for clothes, and buy your clothes with classic lines and fits. I have many nice shirts, pants, and jeans that I have had for over a decade with no issues and they are worn regularly. As far as fast fashion, reserve that pretty much solely for cotton t-shirts.
This is why I don't even bother with expensive stuff anymore. There are very few exceptions where it does count, but most of the time, it's the same. Stuff lasts about the same time. Why buy a microwave that's double the price if it's going to break at the same time as the cheap one?
And speaking of clothes, I have some old jeans from the 80s, from a couple different brands (Levi's and Wrangler specifically), and you can really tell the difference in quality when compared to the new ones. The fabric is thinner, the stitching is worse, they feel just like brandless pants you can buy at Walmart. So why bother with the price?
Yes. The middle men fantasizing about being rich, it blows my mind how easy people have been sold on the idea that they’ll be wealthy one day, without even considering how much pain and misery it will inflict on others to get them there.
Ever since I was born, my mother has had the same dishwasher that has never had to be repaired. This is remarkable for two reasons: 1. For many years, my mother lived in a region that is supplied with very calcareous water. 2. The dishwasher was second-hand when it was bought and is therefore older than me.
The dishwasher may not be as energy efficient as modern appliances, but I highly doubt modern dishwashers last as long.
my parents live in a semi house that was renovated before they moved in: new dishwasher, stove, fridge and those lights that are built directly into the ceiling. during the past 10ish years they've lived there ALL that stuff has broken except the stove (and it doesn't work great either). they had to get a new fridge, dishwasher, and a bunch of the ceiling lights don't work anymore. compare that to their elderly neighbours in the other side of the semi (literally the same house in reverse but not renovated) they have all their old appliances from the 70s or 80s still and everything works great. the renovation was only to make the house seem more modern and therefore valuable, it didn't improve anything
I have mended and restored a lot of things that don't normally get either done to them. Backpack, yoga pants, rubber boots, sneakers and such.
Nylon backpacks have some incredibly cheap waterproofing, for instance, some sort of waxy/gauzy layer applied to the inside. This eventually comes away in shreds and fails completely, leaving the contents of the bag to get soaked if it rains. This can be replaced with twin coats of aerosol glue and aerosol matte lacquer, which seals the cloth, does not come off in the wash, and does not come off the cloth at all. The cloth will rot before that waterproofing fails. I traced the cloth panels when they started to rot, remade the backpack, and sprayed it again.
The failing of the waterproofing is what you said about being made to break, isn't it?
Shit this makes me appreciate my dresser a lot more. It may not have enough space for what I need, but it’s better than the motherfreakin plastic “portable closet” I got because I NEEDED a place to put my clothes that wasn’t a box
I've watched SO many video essays about this topic and I wanna say THANK YOU. No one put it better than you, we must first blame companies, not consumers, we must focus on how unequal capitalist system is, to have a better understanding on how we can fight it.
I like that you first mention that the way out is to support unionizing, even if sometimes it can be hard, we must support strikes, and lastly try to avoid fast fashion, fast consumerism in general.
I think what many essayist focus on it's solely on the consumers end, like buying better quality is gonna change this, and I think that blaming people that choose this brands sometimes because it's whats affordable for them it's not the best way address it.
Loving your videos! Hope someday I'll be able to support you on your Patreon but for now I'll engage as much as I can with your content.
What many don't want to focus on with consumerism is the people at the top. Unless consumerism is focused first at the wealthiest it is absolutely pointless. All that is happening is those with out are conserving so the wealthiest can burn more and more at an even greater rate. And I don't mean "western" or "developed" countries consuming less - I mean the wealthiest people of every nation. Additionally, the "environmental movement" has been a failure and it won't correct itself in part because it has married itself to the wealthiest and "boutique" environmentalism that is never good or better for the environmental. "Consumerism" itself strikes me as an anachronistic term - it seems people today are fine with consumerism, love it, they just what some nebulous idea of a "better corporation."
@@JH-pt6ih totally agree. If we don’t fight the system and just focus on the individual actions of being “greener” then nothing’s gonna change.
I try to avoid fast fashion and fast furniture…but it was considerably easier when I was more financially comfortable…now I have to save up for months to buy one solid wood piece of furniture and I totally get why most people simply can’t wait years to actually have a home full of furniture
the 2015 kenmore washer n dryer i got almost brand new on craigslist for my old apartment started falling apart within 2 years, and yet my parent's washer and dryer that are original to their house from the late 70s-early 80s are still working amazingly and get my clothes cleaner and dryer to this day than the newer ones ever did. new appliances are such garbage and i will never spend more than the bare minimum required for them. if im shelling out, it might as well be for an old reliable one at this point.
I haven't had a pair of bluetooth headphones last longer than a few years. and the one that lasted the longest was like 10 dollars vs. the 40 dollar headphones that are already getting worse in a few months
not really i have better ones from samsung and using them for 5 years works fine
Every year I understand more why my mom and grandmothers cherish their furniture and ask me to tell them if there's anything I want passed down someday
45:00 that's why I really miss living in Northern Maine. It's not for everyone (the winters are right out of a Stephen King book sometimes), but I loved my neighbors and the community. I highly recommend looking up the Common Ground Fair, and it's definitely worth a trip up if you're serious about learning how to farm or make things, off grid or otherwise. It's like if a county fair and Woodstock had a baby and it's amazing.
Maine has been KICKING ASS paving the way for small farmers. I was paying close attention to those laws etc when I lived in NH, worked in southern ME
@ShesquatchPiney and there's so many former working farms just lying there waiting to be brought back again (my friends used to go hop picking at abandoned farms). I think part of the problem is the property taxes and the bigger problem is isolation. You have to be more than physically strong to live and work on a farm that could be anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour or more to a real town.
I miss it though, I've been living in Southern Maine for the last 13 years (and I did grow up down here), but the traffic and people are suffocating me. If someone handed me a little house and 5 acres to farm, I would be in heaven.
Where in Northern Maine and when? You might be dismayed by what you see now.
@JH-pt6ih up past Lincoln, going out towards Eastport.
@@CinnamonGrrlErin1 Ok. I'm up past Ft. Kent. They have been cutting like crazy up here - and not just in the woods. So many trees have been cleared to make plots of land with real estate signs outside. I think someone thinks the river up here might be a great place for retreat homes for the wealthy - like Montana became some years back. Also saw migrant workers working farms around Caribou (and they work in the woods clearing brush as well). I have nothing against the workers for trying to get something better for their life, but when you are bringing people from Guatemala to Northernmost Maine there is an economic problem. (And it's not because, "Americans won't do those jobs" - that is just stupid).
Just in the market for bedsheets as a gift and was surprised to see cotton options are few and many more are microfiber. My mom has sheets that are 60 years old from JC Penney that are still in terrific shape.
Excellent video thank you! As a larger plus size person who’s still majorly excluded from the fashion industry (even within the plus size segment) I get very frustrated that these brands claim to be size inclusive when they actually aren’t. One good thing I can say about it though is that it automatically excludes me from being able to support these fast fashion brands at all. Thankfully I know how to sew and make patterns but I really feel for those in my situation who cannot :(
do you sell your patterns by any chance? that could be a small way to provide some resources to other folks in your situation
the levi’s i find at the thrift store vs. the levi’s i bought a year ago .. the quality difference is insaneeee
I’m on a bicycle repair group on Facebook, and most of the answers are, “Throw it away and buy a new one.”.
Holy shit, you are spot-on on the furniture topic! People’s homes in the 50s-90s were SO eclectic! Pattern wall paper, custom drapes, 5-piece furniture sets, shag rugs, 10+ throw pillows, animal print (that’s the 2000s 🤷🏻♀️)
I have 2 macbook pros from the 2000's and I'm saving up money to get them fixed. 1 had butter accidentally spilled it in and the other had a screen issue. Apple convinced me to buy newer and as I sit here with a laptop that doesn't have an internal hard drive or DVD player, I keep thinking of the apple person telling me, "It's cheaper to buy the new version." At what cost sir? My favorite shows and movies that aren't on DVD are being ripped from streaming services, I have to pay different streamers to watch what I want, Internet is spotty at best in some places in America and the majority of my clothes after 2016 suck! I am now going to shops and buying clothes from before because they last longer. I'm finding myself looking and now becoming interested in learning to sew to avoid having to throw away things and buy new.
Oh wow, I had no idea about the actual trees being used being lower quality for modern wood furniture and structures 😨
I really admire someone I know of in the Chicago area who participates in popups for repairing stuff for people--and they'll repair just about anything they can! I'd love to see that sort of thing formed in more places.
Business school has been teaching for the last few decades that the way to run a successful business is to offer the cheapest possible product at the greatest cost. This is why brands once known for quality are garbage. I recently saw someone show how to clean the *ugliest* Louis Vuitton coat I've ever seen, because the label itself says its unwashable.
Yup and we have mattresses that rot in landfills and it's nearly impossible to recycle mattresses because of bedbugs.
There was a study done in Germany, where people were given the option to buy an expensive washing machine that would last 20 years or buy a cheaper one that they'd need to replace every 5 years. Most respondents chose the latter, because they were afraid their washing machine would become outdated very fast. So, this isn't companies being evil, they're just reacting to the market. People always want the shiniest newest thing. Be it smartphones, washing machines, cars or even clothes. So, in order to meet this demand, companies have adapted by making cheap products fast. There are still high-quality products being made, but they are very expensive. They've become status symbols. It's only by targeting the ultra-rich that companies manufacturing these products are able to survive. These are just realities of our economics. Either make it cheap and fast for the mass market. or High quality in low volumes for a very niche market. You learn this very fast when you start a business-
I've had a cheaper washing machine and regretted it. Now I have a Speed Queen, a brand known to last (except for a couple years back when they started cheaping out on quality, took a hammering, and then changed back.) Hope it lasts.
I've done some vintage shopping for the reasons you outline, but there are also some things to be aware of and certain cases where it might be better to buy new, anyway. The two big ones I've encountered are resource efficiency and material safety concerns.
Current appliances are by and large more energy/water efficient than antique ones. That can have an effect both on short-term cost and on sustainability. Most individuals don't favor sustainability over affordability - and I understand why, when wages are stagnant - so the latter may or may not matter to some, but for people who are in a tight financial situation, a higher energy or water bill can be devastating. I won't buy an old washing machine, for instance, because it's so much less energy and water efficient. There are some exceptions regarding efficiency, with the most notable one I can think of being computers, but there are plenty of other reasons why people don't buy old computers. Planned obsolescence plays a huge role in computers not just in terms of the physical hardware, but the even bigger driver is obsolescence of software.
There are also a lot of old products that have toxic chemicals in them because the regulations of the day were looser or people didn't fully understand the danger. The one that got me was when I bought an antique pyrex measuring cup. I found out later that they used cadmium in the paint. While the paint is on the outside and doesn't touch the contents, I no longer feel comfortable using that piece for food. There are plenty of examples of cadmium being used on things that do directly touch food. There are also some older products that contain radioactive material, and there are lots of old products with lead in them, including things that touch food. Again, there are material safety concerns with some current products, and it can be much harder to confirm that a product is made of safe materials. I think overall the prevalence of things like leaded glass used in drinkware and lead paint used in children's toys is lower than in some parts of the past, though. If you're able to buy an antique with a return policy and lead is the primary concern, definitely get a lead test swab and test it yourself.
My view is that modern things have the potential to be as good as or better than older things because we know more now about safety, ergonomics, engineering, etc. There aren't currently many products that take advantage of that knowledge to make a better product. That's an indictment of our society. On a practical level, this doesn't mean much, but it's something I think people should think about because it doesn't have to be this way.
On a practical level, in the short term, individual consumer choice is all we have to try to influence things and protect ourselves. But ultimately this is a problem with many roots and, as you point out, worker exploitation is probably the most fundamental. Also as you point out, many people are too desperate to stand up for themselves. I think what we need to do to fight these conditions is create mutually supportive communities that work together to support everyone involved.
Community soup kitchens, food banks, and gardens take some of the pressure off of workers who want to go on strike because they'll at least know they can feed themselves and their families. Community credit unions and internet service providers provide a needed utility without gouging people, and other community-based utilities could be implemented. Solar and wind farms are much more accessible than previous forms of energy production, so we're in a better spot now for community electricity than ever. Tenants' unions can more effectively fight back against slumlords.
Community makerspaces and skillshares can be a partial replacement for purchasing poor-quality consumer goods. If all the tables available to buy are made of glorified cardboard, maybe you can learn to make your own, and maybe someone in your community is willing to teach you how. Repair cafes can teach people how to take care of the stuff they have instead of throwing it out as soon as something goes wrong.
Our governments by and large are not responsive to the needs of the people, but to the desires of corporations to shake people down for more money while spending less. Because money talks in politics and corporations have the most. We need to turn to each other and work together because when we allow ourselves to be isolated to fend for ourselves alone, we're even more vulnerable to the corporations. When corporations are collaborating to screw you over, the only response is for you to collaborate to protect yourself and your community.
This is so important, thank you Cheyenne
Pro tip buy work clothing. Bad quality work clothing will just not get bought. It‘s durable, breathable, reasonably priced for what you get. Sure, you‘ll not win a fashion contest but you‘ll never have to replace that pair of BP Superstrech‘s.
great video all around, my best piece of furniture came from my old job at starbucks, two chairs and a table that had been used everyday for years, im guessing they’ll last longer than me tbh 😂
I am slowly replacing my clothes with organic cotton clothes. They are more expensive but last longer and the fabric just feels better. I’m buying from a sustainable company (as far as I know). I got all my dishes from my mom and the thrift store. My Pyrex bowls from the 60’s are the best. I prefer old stuff because it is made better. Don’t laugh, last but not least, I’m still using my IPhone 7s from 2016 and it still works pretty well. The battery still manages to stay charged for a day.
As brazilian I need to say something about the Fashion Industry:
Our Fast-Fashion Brands make their trashy products so overpriced that is more viable import garments from other Trashy Fast-Fashion Brands. The practices and production methods are equally abusive but incredibly Shein/Aliexpress clothes are cheaper and last longer.
Awesome video, I can see you made an extensive research to talk about it so you gained my sub and I'll always be there, success for you
Tip for students on a budget: At the end of the school year, people throw out still-usable things just to get it out of their hair! In college, I got so many art supplies while dumpster-diving! Like, brand new sketchbooks and mostly full cans of spray paint. One time I even got an entire floor lamp.
Even today, I’ll stop by street curbs on heavy trash day just in case there’s something usable that I could use.
I worked for one of the furniture brands and they used cheap China parts and said it was "made in the usa". They recently shipped all of the customer service jobs overseas where they pay $3 instead of $15. Don't buy Frigidaire/ Electrolux.
whenever cheyenne starts the video with "have you ever" i always be screaming YES
My husband thinks I'm silly for buying almost all of my clothes secondhand/vintage. But I can still wear dresses I bought 10 years ago, which only needed minor repairs in all that time. Gods I hate planned absolescence.
The appliance part reminds me of the microwave we had for years. We had one from the mid 2000s that gave out, and my grandpa let us have his old microwave. It still worked, but he had gotten a new one and kept them both. The old microwave was from the 70s, and it lasted us at least 10 years, but it may have been more than that. Was the wattage a bit lower than our new one? Sure. But it worked!
Great job on this video. I’m a 41y/o female and I complain about all of these things; but learned a few things today. My biggest bitch has to be the appliances. Cannot believe how crap all of these things are. A gently used whirlpool washer that breaks after 2 yrs, new dishwasher is useless and doesn’t stay closed through the drying cycle, frig made so cheap that the plastic in side cracked and freezer drawers don’t fully seal closed. We can really remember our grandparents appliances. They bought them once and was able to keep them forever. The greed is just gross and I want to be a minimalist, but the cheapness of everything forces us to continue to buy and replace endlessly.
Appliances and electronics we bought in the 60s lasted for decades. This time bomb electronics began in the 80s.
I was trying to get my 5 year old laptop repaired and the people I'd given it to were weirdly dismissive. Like going on about how the repair cost more than the price I could sell a laptop that old for (so what, I'm paying it's my choice). After literally a quarter of year (about 20 weeks) I finally gave up on them ever getting round to fixing it and now I'm having to look elsewhere. Unfortunately they're the only place I know of that does soldering in my city.
Oh my god I'm so glad someone said something about furniture. I'm a woodworker and I absolutely despise using mdf laminate wood to make anything. It's a smart way to save money and recycle small wood but I reject using it in any furniture. I had the shortcuts everyone has to take just to keep their head above water...
another banger from start to finish, I love how you're progressively angrier the further the video goes along
I lived in New England for a few years where it was really easy to find old furniture for cheap at the Habitat for Humanity, Goodwill, thr FB marketplace or Savers. Now that im back in the south living way in the boonies, its way harder to track those deals down. People have less resources where I live so they keep their old stuff. Theres better access in the city, but its way lame.
I'm from the northeast of Brazil and had no idea this happened even though I know carnauba is a very important plant from my area...the way they hide those stories even from locals is at least scary
This is why I hate Valenciaga and Gucci even more than fast fashion, the only place you can find a high price justfied by quality is in industrial grade wear.
Punk as a subculture is really good about this specific issue imo. I personally have learned to sew, used second hand items in my fahsion and have only used fast fashion as a last resort (not tryna brag tho). Punks generally are very conscious about sustainability and encourage ethical consumption and diy. The style even started out by punks using second-hand leather and wearing whatever was on hand (why i hate dollskill).
It's not only fast fashion, but fast tech as well. Planned obsolescence and designing products that makes it difficult or expensive to repair and maintain, and cutting features like headphone jacks to get people to buy Bluetooth headphones. And speaking of Bluetooth headphones, the battery in the AirPods cannot be replaced or the headphones will get damaged. And the lithium battery can't last forever and eventually stops holding a charge ao people have to throw away their AirPods and buy new ones.
When it comes to funiture one of the best tings is that are tons of of makers out there. If you are willing to buy the older stuff you can have someone that knows that they are doing refurbish your older pieces. If you must have something new you can buy good quailty wood and have someone make the thing you need. It might not be a high level of craftsmanship. But it will be a soild piece of funture that will be with you for a long time.
I used to work furniture repair for a chain-furniture company. The items were manufactured overseas and cheap. Very little actual wood is in the wood products.
Example: a dresser compromised of a frame and drawers that may be less than 30% wood and the body itself? Layers of paper glued together and beautifully colored. Less durable than actual wood and heavier to move.
I've read that the cotton used in so many clothes these days is less durable than it used to be because it's GMO. I don't know if this is true, but it certainly would help explain why my cotton clothes seem to deteriorate so much faster now than they did when I was younger. I had kept noticing my clothes come out of the dryer with little holes in them that weren't there before--on "good" brands, too, like Land's End and finally got so exasperated that I googled the topic.
I find this a bit hard to believe since it can cost quite a bit to purposefully engineer cotton with weak fibers, and it’s infinitely cheaper to just start using less intensive cleaning and weaving techniques, resulting in poor fabric
@@dawert2667 I'm not saying that the person claimed that cotton was intentionally modified to be weak, just that weakness was an inadvertent consequence of genetic modifications for other purposes.
I recommend the re-store for older appliances that won't break instantly. Old dishwashers have choppers in them and get clogged WAAAAAAAY less. If you own a dishwasher with a chopper always get it repaired. They do not make dishwashers the same at all!!!! Also older washing machines 90s early 2000s i swear they get clothes cleaner. Cause they use more water. Sorry, not popular, but i need my clothes to be properly rinsed!!
Loved the video - I really appreciate you covering such an important topic in such a comprehensive manner.